title: Evaluation of the quality of the management of cancer of the corpus uteri--selection of relevant quality indicators and implementation in Belgium.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Describe the methodology and selection of quality indicators (QI) to be implemented in the EFFECT (EFFectiveness of Endometrial Cancer Treatment) project. EFFECT aims to monitor the variability in Quality of Care (QoC) of uterine cancer in Belgium, to compare the effectiveness of different treatment strategies to improve the QoC and to check the internal validity of the QI to validate the impact of process indicators on outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  A QI list was retrieved from literature, recent guidelines and QI databases. The Belgian Healthcare Knowledge Center methodology was used for the selection process and involved an expert's panel rating the QI on 4 criteria. The resulting scores and further discussion resulted in a final QI list. An online EFFECT module was developed by the Belgian Cancer Registry including the list of variables required for measuring the QI. Three test phases were performed to evaluate the relevance, feasibility and understanding of the variables and to test the compatibility of the dataset.
  
  
  RESULTS
  138 QI were considered for further discussion and 82 QI were eligible for rating. Based on the rating scores and consensus among the expert's panel, 41 QI were considered measurable and relevant. Testing of the data collection enabled optimization of the content and the user-friendliness of the dataset and online module.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This first Belgian initiative for monitoring the QoC of uterine cancer indicates that the previously used QI selection methodology is reproducible for uterine cancer. The QI list could be applied by other research groups for comparison.
authors.affiliation: Belgian Cancer Registry, Koningsstraat 215 bus 7, 1210 Brussel, Belgium. Electronic address: Joke.Werbrouck@kankerregister.org.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Werbrouck
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bouche
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Jonge
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jacomen
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: D'Hondt
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Denys
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Limbergen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vandermeersch
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: De Schutter
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Eycken
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Goffin
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Amant
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium; D005260:Female; D006176:Gynecology / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: KCE methodology; National initiative; Quality indicators; Uterine cancer; Validation